Luton Town FC vs Stevenage (10th Jan 2026)

10/01/2026 LUTON TOWN 2-1 STEVENAGE

Town fight back to see off Stevenage

Clark and Kodua on target once more as Hatters bounce back to winning ways

The Town earned their first win of 2026 as they fought back to beat Stevenage and make it three wins in four games in League One.

After a goalless first half, Jordan Clark, who also missed a penalty, and Gideon Kodua were both on target for the third home game in a row as the duo cancelled out Boro’s opener from Lewis Freestone.

Showing seven changes to the side that lost at Exeter on New Year’s Day, including a debut for Manchester City loan signing Emilio Lawrence, it was the visitors who dominated the first half.

Boro, who beat the Town back in October, came close on several occasions in a tight opening period with the Hatters thankful to a tremendous save from Josh Keeley on 24 minutes to keep the visitors at bay. Jordan Roberts was first to react to a loose ball in the penalty area – but his deft effort from close range was somehow turned over the bar by the fingertips of the Hatters’ goalkeeper.

It was a save that earned the plaudits and high-fives from his teammates and three minutes later it was looking an even more important stop when the Town were awarded a penalty when Clark was nudged over in the box. However, this time the spotlight fell on the reflexes of Boro stopper Filip Marschall who kept out Clark’s penalty by diving well to his right.

That was that for an even first half and, as the Town attacked the Kenilworth Road end in the second, Jack Wilshere introduced Shayden Morris for Lamine Fanne.

Stevenage should have taken the lead five minutes after the restart when Jamie Reid fired over from close range, but the visitors were in front moments later. The Hatters felt Roberts handled in the build-up, but as play continued, a ball into the box from the right was nodded home by Freestone.

The response to falling behind couldn’t have been any better. Less than two minutes later it was 1-1 when that man Clark was in the right place at the right time to fire home a loose ball to atone from his earlier miss from 12 yards. It was his seventh of the season.

All of a sudden, the impetus was with the Town and Kodua tested the hands of Marschall on the hour with a low drive.

But the 21-year-old didn’t have long to wait to find the target when, on 64 minutes, the winger fired the Hatters ahead. Morris threaded the ball through to Nahki Wells and the striker fed Kodua and the youngster placed a wonderful low finish out of the reach of the goalkeeper in the corner. A ninth of the season and his seventh in his last 13 games.

Ahead the Hatters seized control. The threat that the visitors carried in the first half was nullified and Clark almost added a third with six minutes to play only for his deflected low shot to be saved.

As Boro understandably laid siege on the Hatters goal in search of a late leveller, the Town had the final chance on the counter when Marschall did well to deny substitute Jerry Yates after the striker was found by Clark’s pass.

And that was that.

After the disappointment in Devon the Town could celebrate a third straight win at Kenilworth Road to move above Stevenage in the play-offs and a step closer to the top six.

Why not come back for more home comforts when we entertain Swindon in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday night? See you then.

UTT.

Town: Keeley, Lonwijk, Johnson, Makosso, Andersen, Walsh, Fanne (sub Morris 46), Clark, Lawrence (sub Bramall 62), Kodua (sub Saville 90+3), Wells (sub Yates 77).

Subs not used: Shea, Walters, Nelson.

Attendance: 11,434, including 1,299 in the away end.

League One: Luton Town 2 Stevenage 1

Luton come roaring back from a goal down to beat Stevenage

Luton Town showed impressive reserves of character to come back from behind and defeat Stevenage 2-1 at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

After a largely forgettable first half, the hosts were then breached early in the second period, Lewis Freestone breaking the deadlock, but Town were able to score twice in just nine minutes themselves through Jordan Clark and Gideon Kodua to ensure the points stayed in Bedfordshire with a third straight home victory.

Having lost 1-0 at Exeter on New Year’s Day, boss Jack Wilshere made seven changes to his side, with Manchester City loanee Emilio Lawrence, who had only joined the club on Thursday, thrown straight in for what was a Football League debut. He joined Kodua and Nahki Wells in a new-look front three, as centre half Christ Makosso made his first start since Wilshere’s first game in charge against Mansfield in October, partnering the returning Mads Andersen in defence, while Lamine Fanne and Josh Keeley were back too.

It saw James Shea, Reuell Walters, Jerry Yates, Shayden Morris, George Saville and Cohen Bramall drop to the bench, with Teden Mengi missing out with an injury, as Lawrence had one foray in the opening 10 minutes, his cross eventually making its way to Nigel Lonwijk for a shot that was charged down.

After getting early goals against both Wycombe and Leyton Orient in their last two home games, a physical Stevenage ensured that wasn’t the case this time, as Luton were guilty of playing at far too pedestrian a pace once more, kept at arm’s length with relative ease. The visitors had the first real moment on 11 minutes, the ball dropping invitingly to top scorer Jamie Reid after a long punt forward which saw the attacker’s ambitious snapshot from range comfortably gathered by Keeley.

With Town not helping themselves, constantly giving the ball away, Lonwijk with one particularly ill-advised pass cut out, it saw the home fans already beginning to get frustrated by their lack of threat, Stevenage almost making them pay from another dangerous corner, Daniel Phillips winning the first contact, Wells deflecting crucially away and Makosso alive to clear the loose ball.

Luton then had their best moment on 19 minutes when a quickfire counter saw Wells pick out the run of Fanne whose first shot was charged down although not for the penalty that the home fans screamed for. He had a second bite of the cherry from the rebound too which was caught acrobatically by the diving Filip Marschall. Despite that brief flurry of excitement, the visitors continued to look the more likely and almost had the lead when Makosso unwisely left a ball which meant Keeley had to hurriedly come off his line and gather at the second attempt.

Boro then threatened again midway through the half, Keeley to the rescue as a deep free kick caused huge danger, the Irish U21 international having to tip Jordan Roberts’ close-range prod over the bar. Lonwijk had a lucky escape moments later when he went sliding in on Freestone as the visitors demanded a red card, but referee Simon Mather deemed it only worthy of a caution.

Harvey White hammered over from the edge of the box before Luton had a marvellous opportunity to take the lead on 28 minutes when Liam Walsh’s dinked free kick saw Phillips nudge Clark in the back inside the area as the midfielder tumbled over and Mather pointed to the spot. Having scored against Orient, Clark assumed responsibilities again and tried to execute the exact same stuttering run up and low shot he had done, only to see it read by Marshall, who got down to his right to parry away.

Town were continuing to get their own fans’ backs up until the final five minutes of the half when they at least had a concerted spell of pressure in the Stevenage territory which ended with both Lawrence and Johnson sending crosses in, the latter also having a shot charged away for a corner too. The Hatters took off Fanne at the break, with Shayden Morris on, as they should have been behind early on when a suspiciously offside looking Reid fired over from close range, replays showing he was definitely off, even if the linesman clearly didn’t agree.

It started a woeful few minutes for the officials, as a clear and obvious handball from Reid was missed by the referee which allowed the ball to be fed wide for a cross that Freestone arrived at the back post to head into the bottom corner. Mather then missed another clear infringement to the ire of the home crowd, but that and the opening goal actually worked in Luton’s favour, as it gave the previously quiet home crowd something to rally against.

On 55 minutes, he awarded Town a freekick which they took full advantage off, Joe Johnson’s deep set-piece not cleared, allowing Clark to swivel and fire through Marschall. With the bit between their teeth, Luton abandoned the neat approach play from the first half and went for jugular, Kodua picking up some neat pockets and his dangerous drive was collected by Marschall. Having moved to the central position, with Morris out wide, it allowed the attacker, who had been a peripheral figure in the first half, become far more of an influence on proceedings, as he was hugely involved in Luton taking the lead on 64 minutes.

Winning the ball back on halfway to start a scintillating counter, Morris was able to carry the ball forward and find Wells who played in Kodua to keep his composure and superbly sidefoot into the net. From there, Luton had far more of a grip on proceedings as they were able to manage the game far better than they have done at times this term, the visitors lucky not to be down to 10 men, Roberts, who had already been booked for arguing a decision, throwing Johnson to the ground.

An audacious flick by Bramall saw the ball drop to Clark whose tame effort dribbled through to Marschall from 20 yards, as the closing stages saw Stevenage begin launching the ball into the area at every opportunity, Mads Andersen coming to the fore with a number of important clearances, as when Boro did win a corner, Carl Piergianni’s ambitious header dropped on to the roof of the net

Luton should really have settled the contest in stoppage time as after Kodua also fired at the keeper, substitute Jerry Yates was sent clean through on goal, but was only able to fire against the legs of Marschall, although thankfully it didn’t cost Town, who moved up to seventh in the table at the final whistle.

Hatters: Josh Keeley, Nigel Lonwijk, Christ Makosso, Mads Andersen, Joe Johnson, Lamine Fanne (Shayden Morris 46), Liam Walsh, Jordan Clark (C), Emilio Lawrence (Cohen Bramall 62), Gideon Kodua (George Saville 90), Nahki Wells (Jerry Yates 77).

Subs not used: James Shea, Reuell Walters, Zack Nelson.

Boro: Filip Marschall, Luther James-Wildin, Carl Piergianni (C), Daniel Phillips (Jordan Houghton 70), Dan Kemp (Jovan Malcolm 84), Jordan Roberts (Dan Sweeney 90), Charlie Goode, Lewis Freestone, Harvey White (Louis Thompson 70), Jamie Reid, Phoenix Patterson (Chem Campbell 70).

Subs not used: Taye Ashby-Hammond, Dan Sweeney, Jasper Pattenden, Chem Campbell, Jovan Malcolm.

Booked: Lonwijk 21, Roberts 69, Freestone 90.

Referee: Simon Mather.

Attendance: 11,434 (1,299 Boro).

Luton's character pleases Wilshere as Town secure important comeback victory

Hatters hit back from falling behind to defeat Stevenage

Luton manager Jack Wilshere hailed his side’s display of character as they finally hit back from conceding first to defeat Stevenage 2-1 at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

The prior six matches in which Town have conceded the opening goal under the former England and Arsenal star had led to Luton able to take just two points from a possible 18, with two draws and four defeats. Before that it wasn’t much better either, as the Hatters hadn’t been able to triumph after being breached first since they were a Championship side, that happening back in March when winning 2-1 at Cardiff City.

At home it was even worse, Luton not able to register three points in such a manner since beating Derby County 2-1 in December 2024, however on this occasion, after Lewis Freestone headed Boro ahead on 53 minutes, Town crucially ensured they weren’t behind for long, Jordan Clark, who had missed a first half penalty, swivelling to strike into the net after Joe Johnson’s free kick landed at his feet.

Nine minutes later and Town led, Gideon Kodua exquisitely sidefooting home from a blistering counter-attack, as Luton made it three home wins in a row for the first time since the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Speaking afterwards, Wilshere said: “I’m glad that the players are starting to believe in it now because we’ve got some really big characters in there, some really big personalities.

“I said to them after, not many teams will go behind to a team like Stevenage and how they play and how difficult they make it, especially with the energy in the stadium and the players should be proud as they're the ones who brought everyone up. They started to play with a little bit more purpose, be on the front foot and I think they then got energy from the crowd.

“When the crowd started to be with us, you can see what it can create and I’m proud of the players for that. It’s good when you get it over the line as we've done that before here, Port Vale (2-2 draw) we came back but didn’t get it over the line, Bolton (2-2 draw) we came back but didn’t quite get it over the line, so when you do that, it’s pleasing. I know what the players can do and I believe in them. I believe that number one they’ve got the quality and the technical ability to hurt teams, but they’ve also got a spirit where they can come back into games,

"I said that all along and when you actually get it over the line against a team that will be difficult to do that against, it gives the players more belief, it gives them more confidence. When I first came in we were speaking about that, how do we give the players more confidence? They should definitely get confidence from that as they should be proud of that today. It’s not easy to come back against a team like that and get the three points which we needed.”

Luton boss explains why he started Man City loanee and 'harsh' call to drop Bramall

New signing Lawrence handed first start against Stevenage

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere insisted he wanted new signing Emilio Lawrence to get an instant taste of life in League One after opting to start the Manchester City loanee against Stevenage at Kenilworth Road yesterday, although admitted it was a ‘harsh’ call to drop Cohen Bramall to the bench.

The 20-year-old hadn’t ever featured in the Football League before during his time in the academy at the Etihad, the closest he had come to senior football was when making seven Vertu Trophy appearances for his parent club’s U21s, including three this term. Despite that, Wilshere put the Scotland U21 international into the Town XI in place of Bramall when going up against one of the Hatters’ play-off rivals, forming a new-look front three containing Nahki Wells in the middle and Gideon Kodua on the opposite flank.

It naturally took the youngster a while to find his feet in the contest, as too often the Hatters were guilty of overplaying in their own half and giving possession away, but as the first period wore on, he did begin to visibly grow in confidence, showing a few glimpses of his potential when getting on the ball when possible and trying to create something, winning a corner, while seeing another cross eventually fired against a defender by Nigel Lonwijk.

He carried on in the second period, although with the scores 1-1 was replaced by Bramall on the hour mark, Town going on to triumph 2-1 thanks to Kodua’s ninth goal of the campaign, but discussing his maiden outing for the Hatters, Wilshere said: “He’ll definitely learn and I said that to him after about ‘welcome to League One’ and that was kind of the thinking behind it, to try and let him experience it.

"I speak a lot about players experiencing things rather than explaining things all the time, let them experience it and go through it and he’ll definitely be better for it. I thought he had some nice moments where he was really clean and then some moments where he got caught out a little bit, probably with the tempo, but he’ll definitely learn from it. Our job now is to show him that, show him the moments where he can do better and try and help him with that.

With Bramall having been one of Luton’s top performers so far this season since his free transfer move in the summer, also proving a dead eye from free kicks, scored three truly wonderful attempts so far, then although he, like the rest of his side, didn’t have their greatest outing in the 1-0 loss at Exeter City on New Year’s Day, it was a big surprise that he was the one to make way.

Wilshere admitted it was tough on his former Arsenal club-mate as well, adding: “I felt harsh on Cohen as he has been outstanding for us. I thought probably the last game against Exeter, he wasn’t at his best, but neither were a lot of the players. It was a little bit harsh, but I wanted Emilio to experience it and also I don’t want them to feel like it’s Emilio against Cohen.

"As I think Emilio can play on the right, Emilio can play as a nine, Cohen has been outstanding for us and gives us something different on the left and I thought his reaction when he came on was really good. Competition for places makes my job harder, but I need everyone, all the players on the front line to be hungry and when they get their opportunity to take it.”

It wasn’t just Lawrence who came into the team following that disappointing afternoon in Devon earlier this month, as he was one of seven changes made by Wilshere, with Josh Keeley, Christ Makosso, Mads Andersen, Lamine Fanne, Wells and Kodua all recalled, as James Shea, Reuell Walters, George Saville, Shayden Morris, Jerry Yates and Bramall dropped to the bench, Teden Mengi missing out with an injury.

On making so many alterations, Wilshere added: “We spoke about how we had to make changes to try and look after players (against Exeter). A few players were carrying knocks, and we then gave the players a few days off as the pitches were frozen. We wanted to see how they came back, they trained Thursday, we had a really good week and it’s always difficult, as we added Emilio and Cohen came out of the team but it’s going to be like that.

"I’ve said that all along, players are going to play and of course if they’re in form they always have the opportunity to play but there’s going to be times where they dip out of form or they're a little bit tired and we need everyone. I thought Nahki was outstanding, but when Yatesy came on he gave us the energy too. Of course he’ll be disappointed at the end not to get his goal, but he did everything we asked of him.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyY1Lt0L-ZY – match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5HKM1hebA – Jack Wilshere interview